And it's officially the last day of decade! I hope everyone starts an amazing new year and decade. Are you guys into making resolutions? I don't always make them coz I find that I don't usually keep them. This year though I have some resolutions. The first one being losing some weight. I want to get to my ideal weight of 140lb by spring. The second one is that I want to save some money and send to Iran to support the ppl's green movement. I enjoy full democracy and freedom of speech here and I want the same for the ppl of my home country.

Moving on to the poll, as I mentioned yesterday I'm going to a house party this NYE and going to be totally dressed up (yay, I always love being dressed up). Obviously, my nails will be painted in some glitzy shade. As of now I'm thinking either ChG Sexagon or Colour Club Fashion Addict.

What are you guys wearing on your nails tonight? Even if you're not going out, what would you wear if you did go out? Please vote at the poll located on the right side and feel free to elaborate in here.

I did this simple glittery eye makeup yesterday for a random trip to the mall. I had yesterday off and spent it mostly shopping and watching movies. I went in to work for about 4 hours today and tomorrow I will be working for 2 hours, after that it's NYE celebration baby! I've been thinking about my NYE makeup and have a few ideas but haven't decided yet. I know I will be wearing a red dress though and I'm excited about it!

Is anyone going out for NYE? Do you know what makeup you're makeup you're doing and what you'll be wearing.

Also Tip of the Day: I figured an easier way to apply my glitter too. I used to put a drop of gel mm and glitter on the back of my hand, mixing them and then applying them on my lid with the brush. My new way is to dab the gel mm with my finger to the lid and then apply the glitter with the brush. If you work fast this is the most efficient way; you won't be dragging the glitter and ruining the eyeshadow underneath.

Since I've had ppl asking me where I get some of the outfits I wear in my FOTD's, I figured I could do a couple of posts on fashion and how I dress myself in general. I'm by no means a fashion expert; I enjoy reading refashion magazines (I subscribe to InStyle and Elle Canada) and I've been dressing myself for a while now (lol!) so I can share with you tips I've learned by experience.

1. Don't be a slave to trends

True, I follow the trends closely to get a feel for what's coming. But I never had and will have a full on trendy wardrobe. In general, I only buy trendy items that attract my attention and are "me" pieces. I also buy trendy pieces from cheaper brands and spend more on classic items. For example, I fully embraced the military trends and leather jackets of this fall/winter so I have bought a couple of military style blazers and a versatile leather jacket. On the other hand, patterned leggings were also big and I would personally never go there.

2. Know your body type and dress for it

I do not have a model's body, a lot of trends are just not cut for someone with my body type. I'm a relatively tall girl (5'7") so my height gives me versatility with various lengths of skirts/pants/dresses. But I have an hourglass body type so I tend to favour classic cuts such as shift dresses, v-neck and sweetheart neck shirts and dresses, pencil skirt and anything with a belt. I stay away from anything empire waisted, bubble skirts for most pat, ruffles on top and anything backless (I cannot go bra less). Once you become secure in your body and know what works or doesn't, you shop smarter and acquire pieces that will work for you now and in the future.

3. Splurge vs Save

Everybody has a set budget for clothing and I personally feel that it's important to know when to splurge and when to save. Again the amount of splurge is directly proportional to your income. I tend to spend a little more when it comes to coats and boots (I live in Canada!), shoes, button down shirts (I need them tailored to fit my body) and dress pants. I save and buy cheaper pieces when it comes to party dresses and tops, jewelry and super trendy items (like liquid leggings).

4. Always do an an inventory of your closet before shopping

This is something I've learned after years of buying similar outfits. I'd go all giddy over stretchy red dress and buy it only to come home and see that I have a dress just like it in my closet. So now at the beginning of every season, I do an inventory of my closet. Give away what I don't use and write down what I need (things I splurge on) and what I want (things I spend less money on). This method has helped me have a more well rounded inventory of clothes at my arsenal.

5. Timing is key

Obviously, you can always score great finds during seasonal sales or at chains like Winners (or TJ Maxx in the US), but I have one more tip; time your shopping trip so you're there between 2-3 pm. I find that's is the time the sales staff is the most helpful and the stores less busy. The lunch crowd has left and the after work crowd hasn't arrived. I tend to take an afternoon off work once every few months to do my shopping. I put a lot of overtime at my work so and occasional afternoon off is never a big deal for my boss.

Hope this post was helpful to you guys. I will have another post about stores I prefer and why sometimes later this week :)

I'm back from my one and half day get away in the middle of Algonquin Park. I feel incredibly relaxed and happy. The place was beautiful, service excellent, and don't even get me started on the amazing food and the jacuzzi in front of the fire place in our room. I definitely want to go back to this resort, perhaps next the summer; though it was an equally amazing winter getaway.

I thought I share some pics with you. The facility was at the end of this road:

And this was the view from our window:

I also did a pink/purple smokey look for dinner. I didn't make it too dramatic as I wanted to wear my beloved Nars Damned velvet lip pencil. I used:

Since I'm off until Wednesday, I've made it my mission to wear bright looks everyday. So I did this fuchsia and purple look for my Boxing Day shopping. We actually had freezing rain this morning and driving to the mall was a nightmare, but we did make it finally. I haven't been Boxing Shopping for over 7 years so I quite enjoyed myself. Oh, and even though MAC had released two new collections today, I didn't even go to their counter. There's too much other stuff I wanted to get (boots, a coat, ski pants....) to even remember that!

Tomorrow the hubby and I are heading over to a couples only resort in Algonquin Park for a couple of days so I probably won't be blogging until Tuesday. I won't take much makeup with me either. Except a red lipstick and fluidliner for our big 5 course dinner first night at the resort. I'm gonna try to take some pics of the place and share with you guys when I'm back. Meanwhile, hope everyone is enjoying the holidays :)

Happy Boxing Day everyone! Today I'm wearing a neon blue nail polish by China Glaze called Blue Sparrow. I'm pretty sure this is part of their perm collection as I got it from Sally's about two weeks ago. It's a gorgeous glittery neon blue but it does need 3 thin coats to get opaque. I added a shiny top coat as I prefer my neons shiny.

Here it is on my nails, excuse the messy application. I was hurrying to get out of the house and into the mall, lol!

We hosted a Christmas breakfast this morning like we do every year on Christmas day. My folks and some close friends were over and everyone had a blast. We were cleaning up after that for a while and then went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie; I actually quite like it and recommend it. I'm planing on going to the mall tomorrow on Boxing Day. Now that's weird coz I actually always hated the crowd on Boxing Day and avoided the malls. I'm making an exception this year as I just haven't been shopping for a while and want to scoop out some deals, lol!

Anyway, no more rambling, here's the look I did this morning. I've become quite fond of the double liner thing. I also included a picture of my dress and some random pics from the party.

It's almost Christmas! And I'm at work! But I guess it's ok as I'm leaving in a couple of hours and we're going to lunch with my team.

I thought I take the time and squeeze in my weekly Thursday Poll. This week the poll is about eyeliners and which type do you prefer and use on a daily basis. I started lining my eyes when I was 14 using a black liquid liner. Since I started with liquid, I was able to learn and experiment with lining and now I can do both my eyes in less than 2 minutes. These days, I personally use pencil, gel and also eyeshadow as eyeliner depending on my mood or the specific look I'm going for.

I love gel liners for more precise lining, including cat liner, double liner or Arabic style lining. I have gel liners from different brands such as MAC, Bobbi Brown, Clinique and Stila and I love them all equally. I also make my own gel liner by adding a gel mixing medium (I use MAC) to any coloured pigments. I love Teal, Deep Blue Green, Blue Brown and Platinum pigments for this. I would say gel liner is probably my favourite type of eyeliner.

I also use pencil liners quite frequently. I love a pop of colouful bright pencil on the lower lashline and adore kohl pencil liners for a smodgy look. I also use them to cut and blend in cut crease looks. Furthermore, pencil liners are great for when you're rushing. I own and use pencil liners from Lise Watier, Urban Decay, MAC, Annabelle and Gosh. I really want to try some MUFE Aqua liners in the new year. I hear they're the best in this category.

One of the other ways I line my eyes is using eyeshadows wet or dry. If you're using MAC eyeshadows, be careful about wetting them as most of them cannot be used wet. But Beauty Marked is a great eyeshadow that can be damped and is wonderful as liner. I probably use it more as liner than shadow. Darker shadows are obviousely the best ones for lining. I also use Prussian, Plumage and Embark quite often to line my eyes. I find that a small angled brush is best when your using eyeshadows as liners.

I haven't personally used cake liner but if you have, please share your experience in comments and also whether you have any recommendations. Looking forward to reading all comments :)

This is my last post before Christmas besides the blog poll that's going up tomorrow. I thought I take a moment and wish you guys a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Thank you for your continuing support of my blog by following, commenting and referring. I now see that I have 86 followers! When I started this blog, I never thought anyone would care about what I had to say, haha! I do appreciate every single one of you and planing on a give away when I hit 100 subscribers. That should be fun, I would think more fun that doing makeup!

Hope you all enjoy this time of eating, driking and being merry with your family and loved ones. Here's a pic of me and the hubby by our xmas tree, I look kinda shocked, haha:

I was inspired by Samantha who made a post about products that just didn't work for her to make a similar post. Now I didn't buy many products that didn't work for me as I always do a lot of research before buying anything. So my list is actually quite small; it contains only 3 items! As I mentioned in my "Best Products of 2009", these products are not necessarily new to 2009, they're just new to me.

1. Smashbox HD Foundation (shade Light4)I actually started off by liking this foundation. It gave me ok coverage and I looked great in photos. But after about a month of using it, it started to oxidize on my face. Within about an hour of wear, it looks orange and dark on me even though I know this is the right match. I'm sure this foundation works for some ppl, it just wasn't for me.

2. MAC Hello Kitty Lipstick in Big BowI admit; I made a big mistake and fell or the hype that was Hello Kitty. Even though I only purchased three items, I either didn't care for them or hated them. Big Bow lipstick is actually a great colour. It applies sheer as it's a Glaze but it also applies super chalky and sets into the lines of my lips within minutes. That is even if my lips are fully moisturized. Really it's the worst lipstick I've ever tried from MAC and I'm usually a big fan of their lipsticks and buy plenty of them. The only way I've been able to wear this is by layering over another lipstick.

3. Seche Vite Top CoatOk ppl, don't throw stones! I know Seche Vite is a cult fave but it's not for me. I find that I still have to wait 10 minutes after I'm done applying my polish before I can put this on without messing up the colour. This time frame is even longer if I'm wearing a china glaze nail polish (which in my experience dry super slow, with the exception of their metallic ones). If I have to wait 10-15 minutes before putting on a quick drying top coat, why on Earth would you call it Seche Vite??

Ok, so that was my quick list. I feel like turning this into a tag so I'm gonna tag:XinaRox

I'm still stuck with this cold bug. I actually went into work today eventhough I wasn't feeling well. I had a lot to do and also my boss was here from Toronto. I also took yesterday off as I was way too sick to even drive to work. I spent half of the day in meetings so it went by quite slowly.

But on the bright side it's almost Christmas. Marc is preparing a traditional Guyanese Christmas brunch for Friday and we have a bunch of ppl over for that on Christmas Day. I need to start wrapping ppl's presents soon. This cold bug has really gotten to me and I've become much less of a planner. Anyway, here's today's pink look. Hope you enjoy it :)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I attended a Yalda Night party tonight with the hubby and my parents at some other Persian family's. It was actually a great party with tones of food and drink and I would have had more fun if I wasn't so damn sick! We ended up leaving early coz I had a fever and apparently looked as white as a ghost :/ Now I'm just waiting for the hubby to finish off some work so we could sleep and it's only 9 pm.

Anyway, i had taken some pills before I left so I actually look awake in these pictures. I forgot to take a picture of the dress and also forgot to take my camera with me. But trust me the dress was hot, lol! It made me feel better. I have an hourglass figure so I tend to wear fitted bodice which i think is the best for me. This dress was no exception. Since the dress was black, I was free to be colourful with the makeup; I went with green and silver eyes and nude lips. I was actually inspired by Samantha's FOTD for this. I just made it more glittery.

I wore this look to another holiday party hosted by the in laws. I was (and am) feeling absolutely miserable. I have a very sore throat and been coughing non stop. It annoys me that I should be sick now in the middle of all the parties more than it annoys me that I'm in fact sick. I have another party to go to tonight for the Persian Yalda Night (longest night of the year, a big celebration point for the Persians) and on top of that one of Marc's aunts who's visiting from D.C. is coming in a few hours to see us. I just want to crawl in bed and not deal with all the gatherings :/

Anyway, I'm usually good at sucking it up and putting on a smile I guess I will do just that. I thought before I go back to bed for an hour or so I post my look from yesterday. I was wearing this burgundy dress and I wanted the lips to match and kept the eyes matte and smokey. I posted a pic of the dress as well :) Let me know what you guys think.

I tried this sorta unusual combo of lilac and coral tones on my eyes. I had more time on my hand this morning so I took my time choosing this combo. As mentioned in my previous post, we had our office holiday lunch today. We had Indian food catered in and there was tones of booz available so everybody was in a happy mood. People kinda lingered around the lunch table until around 3 pm then everyone just went home. I did a little bit of shopping and got me a dress to wear tomorrow. I'm actually going to 3 parties this weekend and wanted at least one new thing to wear.

Anyway, I will post the dress and whatever makeup I decide to wear with it tomorrow. Hope everyone's enjoying the start of their weekend.

I know I have said that I wouldn't buy Ruby Pumps coz I have all these glittery red nail polishes already in my arsenal. But then I saw it at Chatters two days ago and couldn't resist the glittery goodness. Plus we have our office holiday lunch today and I thought it would be a good occasion for it.

I don't need to rave about this polish as all you guys are aware of its glittery goodness. So I will just post the swatch; two coats on my nails.

Today's poll has to do with holiday makeup as this topic has been on my mind lately. As the holidays get closer, I'm invited to at least two christmas parties every weekend and have been thinking about my makeup.

For last week's party at my in-laws, I did a neutral cut crease with double liner and retro red lips. I'm thinking of doing a silver and green look for Saturday's party and maybe a gold smokey look for Sunday's party. Or I can be adventurous and do a red smokey look one of the nights.

What are some of your favourite holiday makeup looks? Please share in comments. It might even give me more ideas to work with :)

For my last post of the day I thought I write about my top 5 products of 2009 as we're nearing the end of the year. I must add that these products were not necessary introduced in 2009 but I discovered them this year. It was actually quite hard for me to only pick 5 products but I finally managed.

1. Makeup Forever HD Foundation - Shade 118 (Flesh)I've already reviewed this amazing foundation here, but I really am so happy that I gave in to the hype (it was a "fair" hype IMO) and bought it. My skin has never looked more perfect and I've never gotten so much compliment on it. Just amazing, will definitely run to Sephora and get another bottle when I run out.

2. Lise Watier Portfolio CorrectorAnother amazing find for 2009. I've also reviewed this amazing and multi-tasking concealer here, and mentioned that I'm now officially using this everyday instead of my MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer. I'm actually annoyed at myself for not buying this years ago, but better late that never.

3. Nars Desire BlushI don't need to talk about how pigmented, long lasting and flattering Nars blushes are as I know most beauty addicts/buyers have had experience with these blushes. I personally own three of them and I find that I used the candy coloured Desire the most. It's quite pigmented so I go with a light hand and use a powder blush. This is a must for me now and recommend it to all pink lovers.

4. YSL Rouge Volupte No.1 (Nude Beige)I heard lotsa raves about the champion of the lipstick world, YSL Rouge Volupte. But the problem was that these lipsticks are about $50 in Canada and I just could not justify the price. Eventually though, I found the one I was lusting after (No.1) in the clearance bin at Specktra and jumped at the opportunity. I must say that I was not disappointed, this lipstick does deserve the praise for best formula, colour selection and longevity. I have many nude lipsticks but this pinky beige is by far the most flattering on me. If you have moolah available, don't hesitate to give YSL Rouge Volupte a try.

5. Orly Smudge FixerAnother product that has existed for a while but I only came across it this past summer. I've already reviewed the smudge fixer here and gave it two thumbs up. I can be messy with my nail polish application and this product has saved my life. I think Orly Smudge Fixer is a necessity for all nail polish fans.

Have you tried any of these products? Any thoughts?What are your top 5 products of 2009?

We're having high and fast winds and a super cold day in Ottawa; it's about -25 right now. I finally set up our tree last night but didn't get to finish the decoration. I've been having this consistent headache that puts me in a bad mood so I don't feel like doing much with my time but lying down. I am excited about our tree though. The house smells amazing, just like pine and I love the scent of pine.

Anyway, I did a warm combo to help fight the cold blues. I must have done something like this before but i used some of my new gooudies this time. Hope you like :)

Following the same festive trend, I'm wearing another OPI Holiday 09 nailpolish, Holiday Glow. Holiday Glow is a taupe/brown base with silver and gold glitters. It's a very difficult colour to describe and I'm not sure if I'm describing it accurately. You pretty much have to see its gorgeousness in person. I'm actually quite pleased with OPI's holiday collection. They did do a lot of red as usual but they also introduced some amazing colours like Holiday Glow and Merry Midnight.

This is 2 medium coats of the nail polish. You definitely need at least two coats. It applied evenly and dried super quick.

After a month of owning (and wearing) this nail polish, I finally remembered to take a picture of it on my nails. OPI Merry Midnight is a beautiful purple with a red based and has a tone of multi-coloured glitters and flakeys. This is my first experience with flakeys and I must say that I loooove the affect. The only negative thing with this polish is that you do need three coats to make it opaque. But once it is opaque, it's a beauty and very season appropriate. I felt festive wearing it all day long.

I'm on a roll with my weekend looks! Since it seems like I don't get to post as regularly, I thought I might as well do some glittery look with Young Punk MES and also try one of my new Nars products, Damned velvet matte lip pencil. I must say I'm really liking these matte pencils, too bad they cost $30 CAD. I need to do a haul post and product review soon. I'm hoping I'll get to it sometimes this week.

Anyway, here's the look. I'm not entirely happy with the crease application but it'll have to do. I had the GPS on as a base when my phone rang so I got to blending it a lil late. And you know how quick the GPS dries!

Last night I attended a family holiday party and decided to go for the classic red lips, cat eye look. Honestly, I have experimented with most makeup colour combination and I still think this look suites me best. Obviously, I'm not gonna stick to this look always, but it's nice to know what suites you best.

Anyway, here's the look. Hope you like it. I took these pics in my parents bathroom lol; hence the different background. My mom loved this look on me :)

Ok, I'm officially obsessed! Lise Watier eye glitters are the best thing since sliced bread. I'm not being biased coz I'm Canadian; but I have tried some of the more buzzed up glitter liners out there like MAC and UD and I would LW liners still owns them!

The love affair started this summer when I was bored at Shoppers Drug Mart (Canadian drugstore chain, for non-Canadians who might not know) waiting for my prescription and started trying these glitter liners on my hand...and then felt that I needed at least one of them. As of now, I own four of them and thinking about getting more. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna end up buying them all. This is why:

They are super duper sparkly. They come in a cute packaging and the pointy brush makes it very easy to apply the glitter as a liner or all over your lids. They look best on top of a black eyeliner or a an eyeliner that is the same colour as the glitter. They come in a lot of fun permanent as well as some gorgeous LE shades. I also love the price: $17CAD. I don't think you can beat the quality and price you get with these.

Cons - I cannot think of any cons! maybe they should make 10 more shades, haha! They already have a great selection though. Or maybe LW should be available in other parts of the world as well. I think it's a pity folks who live outside of Canada don't have easy access to their products.

Ok, and here are some swatches of the beauties. I've made the swatches over LW Noir Intense eyeliner:

This is my first experience with OCC nail polish and I must say I'm quite pleased. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the name; like Something what? But I do like the colour. I mean I don't think I've ever met anything blue or purple that I didn't like, lol! This is a beautiful pale blue polish that applies evenly and with no streak. I would say though that the dry time is not ideal; as in it's not as quick drying as OPI polishes, maybe more like China Glaze. I've also added a thin layer of Misa Sweet Pleasures but you can hardly see it in this photo.

Anyway, here's two coats of OCC Something and one coat of Misa Sweet Pleasures: